The Truth Behind Ursa
by Glitch32
Summary: Now that the war is over, Zuko has time to search for answers behind what really happened to his mother. On his search he finds answers and details about everything that happened behind Ursa's banishment, Iroh's revoked birthright, and Azulon's death.
1. Chapter 1: Searching for Answers

**The Truth Behind Ursa**  
__Chapter 1 - Searching for Answers

Zuko dug through hundreds of files and papers in the Fire Nation palace. He ran his finger over folder after folder, reading the labels of each one, desperately trying to locate any kind of information on the topic he had been researching for three days straight. He was getting very tired of his ceaseless work, for it had yielded him no answers at this point in time.

Zuko slumped back into his chair, in defeat. He was lonely at the time being, for Mai, his only companion, was out doing her daily routine of royal grooming treatments and the like.

After the war had ended, the team had spent a week on vacation in the Impenetrable City. Azula and Ozai were both imprisoned and had no chance of escaping, and as such, Zuko decided it would be alright to take a cursory break before beginning his position of Firelord and taking on the responsibility of calming the calamity caused by the revolts and uproars that would be sure to come from the Phoenix Loyalists.

Once Team Avatar had spent their final week together, recounting war memories and telling their stories, it was time to depart for their separate destinations. Toph had decided to pay a little visit back home to her parents and see if she could manage to peacefully wrangle her way out of living at home, so that she wouldn't have to run away against her parents' will again. (Either way she had NO intention on staying there whatsoever. If they wanted to make it hard, so be it, but she would not remain at home.)

Zuko and Mai returned to the Fire Nation, for obvious reasons with Zuko needing to step up as the new Firelord.

Much to Sokka's disgruntlement, Suki, along with Ty Lee, went their separate way to Kyoshi Island for the purpose of a rendezvous with the Kyoshi Warriors, who had only recently arrived home from being imprisoned near the Fire Nation royal palace. Sokka wished to stay with Suki, but he needed to return home, at least temporarily, to get things straightened out with his father about what to do in order to begin a courtship with Suki. This was the main reason he traveled back home, but secondarily he felt very uneasy about letting Aang and Katara fly for two hours on Appa completely alone with no one else to supervise, especially considering the fact that Aang and Katara had been together for a week now, and had already gone out on a couple of dates.

This obviously leads to the notion that Katara was returning home to the Southern Water Tribe, and Aang followed along with her. Aang knew well that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Katara, and in turn he requested of Hakoda and the higher officials of the tribe if he could remain in the Water Tribe permanently, having the town--which was slowly becoming a city--as the his main location to stay during the times when he was not off serving the world.

All this to say that Zuko was very bored around the palace when he had no national duties to take care of. He and Mai had arrived at the palace a few days ago, and ever since, all of Zuko's spare time had been devoted to one thing, and that was finding out what truly happened to the former Firelady: Ursa of the Fire Nation. Zuko's conversation with his father directly after the war ended in sad disappointment. Ozai had claimed that no one knows of the whereabouts of Ursa and that all files of any sort relating to her had been discarded and burned. But Zuko didn't believe it for a second. There had to be some way to find out what truly happened that half-decade ago.

Zuko fell back into his elaborate red chair and sighed, rubbing his head in defeat.

"Is something wrong?" A voice came from the front door of the study. Zuko looked up to see his girlfriend, Mai, walking towards him with a concerned look upon her face.

"I can't find _anything_. I'm starting to think my father might have been telling the truth for once." Zuko responded, slight depression glooming from his words.

"You searched all the files?" Mai continued questioning, trying to find some way to uplift her closest friend.

"Everything! There's nothing in here or the palace vaults." Zuko slumped even further back into his chair.

Mai looked around the room. She had seen it so many times before, but, for her, the vast size of it was just now sinking in. The room was quite large, painted with a deep red and lined with a gold: the two colors of the their nation. This color scheme was more common than grass itself in the Fire Nation, so obviously this wasn't what she was struck by. Along the left, right, and back walls were delicately designed file cabinets that were filled with all the paperwork and files that the former Firelord had kept for records of the important events that took place.

"No ideas on anything else that could contain information about her?" Mai rejoined her questioning after staring around at the vastness of the room.

Zuko shook his head, once again in defeat. Mai couldn't stand to see him like this: so unhappy and annihilated. She walked over to him, sat down on his lap, and was welcomed by a warm hug from Zuko.

"Zuko, it's okay. You'll find her. I know you will." Mai gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then hugged him back.

After a minute or two of simply enjoying each other's warm embrace, Mai sat up quickly with a countenance very uncommon to be seen on her face: a combination of happiness and shock.

"Zuko," she spat out quickly, "Did Azula keep a journal?"

Zuko scrunched his eyebrows, trying to recall whether she did or not, but he quickly shook himself out of it.

"Azula would never keep a journal. That's too unlike her. It's not like she had anything in there other than pure evil to write about." Zuko cracked a small smile.

"Still, it couldn't hurt just to see. No one's been in her room since the war ended, so it's worth a try at least. Maybe she wrote about what really happened." Mai stood up, walked around the desk, and towards the door, where she stopped to tell him something before leaving.

"You go check on that. I have some letters I need to respond to. I'm sure that Ty Lee is dying for a reply." Mai giggled.

She turned to exit, but quickly stopped herself and turned her head back for a final comment.

"And Zuzu?"

He answered with a simple "Hm?"

"Don't get bogged down if things don't work out. Worst case scenario we put word throughout the Fire Nation that the former Firelady is wanted to return to the palace. You'll find her, Zuko. I know you will." She flashed a smile before walking out. Zuko couldn't help but smile back. Somehow, underneath that dingy, grey aura was a beautiful and vibrant woman who was loyal and faithful to keep up hope. That's what Zuko loved about her.

Zuko roamed through the halls, still admiring and musing to himself about his wonderful Mai. He trudged along until he finally arrived at the door he had been too scared to open ever since his return to the palace.

Azula's room.

He hadn't been in this room since he confronted Azula about three or four months prior, when he questioned her reasoning of her 'shared glory' of the fight in Ba Sing Se and the supposedly 'dead' Avatar. Back then it wasn't as terrifying--though granted terrifying nonetheless--but ever since he came back to the palace he had been even more horrified of the thought of entering her room, mainly because she had only recently gone completely insane, and done who-knows-what to her own room. If she were willing to go to the extreme of cutting her own hair off, which she had so often bragged about when they were younger, who knew what she had done to her room.

Zuko took a deep breath, and slowly creaked open the door to what he had anticipated to be a portal to hell itself. The darkness in the room made it difficult to see. Zuko clamored around the wall, looking for a torch to light, but still remaining outside the room in fear of stepping into the dark, frantically feeling the wall inside for a torch of any kind. He found one, much to his great joy (and horror as well) and lit it with his left hand. He illuminated the room with the torch and slowly eased his way in after it.

His tension and fears all came to a sudden stop when he saw that the room hadn't changed much, other than that the mirror was cracked, the sheets were ripped, and clothes were thrown all over the dresser and floor. It was nowhere near as horrifying as he expected; those expectations were some sort of evil and twisted device designed to crisp you thinner than a potato chip. (Okay, so I'm exaggerating. But something equally as evil!)

Zuko mounted the torch upon the wall and busied himself with tidying up the clothes thrown around that had obviously been ripped out of her wardrobe, for all the tops and dresses were torn at the shoulders where they had been ripped off the hangers. He tidied them up into a pile in the corner of the room, and then quickly pulled the torn sheets off the bed and piled them on top of the clothes. He swept up the shattered glass that lay scattered across the floor and brushed the shards from the face of the dresser into a bag, of which he discarded to the corner of the room with the clothing and bed sheets.

The room was now tidy enough for Zuko to at least have a slight bit of comfort and concentration. He couldn't bare to think of what happened in that room the evening it had become such a mess. Azula had gone quite insane.

Zuko began the investigation, in search of something; anything! Anything that could possibly be written by Azula. It no longer mattered to him if it was not about Ursa. If it was about Ursa, great. If it wasn't, it's still a good find. He might actually get to look inside his sister for once.

He pulled open the doors of the wardrobe, scanning the floor and the shelf at the top for anything that could slightly resemble a book. When he found nothing of interest to him he moved towards the bed, looking underneath the mattress and under the bed frame. Again, nothing. He walked over to her dresser: the one that had a large hole in it where a mirror had once resided. He opened the door on the left, then the other on the right. He moved to the top of the three drawers in the middle. The top one held nothing more than a few unmatched earrings and a broken necklace. The second drawer he pulled on would not open. This raised his suspicions. He pulled a little harder, but it would not open for him. Zuko stood up from his kneeling position and pulled the dresser away from the wall. He looked at the back side which revealed a small, sliding panel. Zuko yanked it open and found a lock that must have been attached to the back of the drawer. He did his best to pick it, but to no avail.

He finally decided that he had had enough, and he pulled on the lock with one hand, while heating the base with fire from the other. As it heated, the metal began to mold into the drawer's metal bar frame. It finally melted all the way through, leaving Zuko with a lock that had been burnt off. Zuko discarded the lock and began to come back around the front of the dresser when he saw Mai standing in the door frame of the room.

"Any luck?" She questioned in that dull yet somehow hopeful voice.

"Maybe," Zuko responded, coming around the front of the dresser and signing with a hand for Mai to come over to him. "This drawer had a lock on it, and is the last place it could be. Let's hope for the best."

Zuko took a deep breath as Mai kneeled down beside him, anxious to see what lie in the dresser drawer. Zuko pulled it open all the way, and there in the middle of it lay a thick, black book that was worn, torn, and wreaked of evil all over. To Zuko, it seemed as if time stopped and the room got suddenly darker when he laid eyes upon this hellbook. The drawer released a toxic scent that smelled distinctly like Azula's favorite and preferred perfume: Dripping Dragon Blood. Mai reached out to grab the book, slowly and carefully, seeing as Zuko was not moving.

His hand suddenly grasped her wrist firmly before she could touch the book. Mai pulled her hand away from him.

"What was that for?" She questioned, slightly put out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I'm just really uneasy about this." Zuko responded, rubbing her wrist where he had forcefully grabbed her priorly. "I won't let that happen again." He reassured. His gaze then turned back to the black codex, which surely had to be the work of some demonically possessed creature.

Zuko reluctantly brushed off a few beads of the necklace that had rolled out of the drawer above and into this one, then picked the book up and opened to the first page. It had two words on it; words that made shivers go up and down both of their spines.

There, written in what appeared to be blood, were the two words that would be the beginning of an adventure to find out the truth behind what happened to Firelady Ursa.

_**Azula's Diary.**_


	2. Chapter 2: A Sacrificial Punishment

**The Truth Behind Ursa**  
Chapter 2 - A Sacrificial Punishment

Mai and Zuko had moved to his room, wanting to escape the dark dungeon that was Azula's bedroom. They sat on the bed side-by-side as Zuko flipped through the pages, skimming the entries and searching for his mother's name, or even something slightly related to what had happened. At this point, any kind of information that could fill in some; any gaps would be appreciated.

As he turned the pages closer and closer to the current date and closer still to the back of the book, Zuko began to slowly lose hope that there would be anything in the book that was of any interest to him

He then came across the name of Firelord Azulon, which caught his eye. He turned back to the page and took note that it was dated about three months prior. He skimmed over the first paragraph quickly, and realized that it was Azula recounting the events of Ursa's disappearance. Jackpot! He started at the beginning of the entry, reading aloud so Mai could hear as well.

_Today was another entertaining day in my horribly wonderful life. I have been enjoying a vacation on Ember Island this week, as father needs to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Zuko seems very disturbed by the fact that we have been sent away on a forced vacation, but I am actually enjoying it, and I think he secretly is too._

_We had an interesting evening. We went to a party that turned out to be absolutely pointless and of no fun for any of us. The talk that went on earlier tonight was rough and even hilarious to me. Everyone was touchy and emotional tonight due to the fact that Zuko and Mai had just broken up an hour before. The ex-couple and Ty Lee all went back and forth telling sob stories of their past and expressing their emotions about their lives. Even Mai expressed her feelings a bit. I was surprised, and slightly proud that she would actually do so. I really don't care to write of what all happened. Ty Lee mourned about her six sisters, Mai groaned about her over-protective parents, and Zuko wailed about his scar and Father's despise for him. In the end Zuko and Mai made both up, and out. I applauded the three of them in the midst of Mai and Zuko's kiss, somewhat laughing at all their sob stories. Zuko managed to realize that I'm 'perfect' as he said with a sarcastic voice. I remember my responding words exactly._

_"Well yes, I guess you're right. I don't have sob stories like all of you. I could sit here and complain about how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care. My own mother thought I was a monster."_

_I quickly realized what I was doing after I had said this. I was opening myself up for my friends to possibly think that I was weak. So I quickly came back with the witty remark: "She was right of course, but it still hurt!" Of which, I still laugh to myself about._

_But I'm writing today because I want to express more thoughts about that topic. It was very difficult to not blurt out the entire story of my mother and our relationship, and allow those three to share my burden with me. I know I could count on Ty Lee for that, but I can't put my trust in her to the point that I depend on her. If I were to regale them with the details of my relationship with Mother, it would be a horrible mark on my status with my friends(I use this word carefully. They are merely pawns in my game. I have no friends other than father and a few of the war generals.) and it would be relying on someone other than myself to go through life. And I can't afford that._

_So, I rely on my diary to help me get through that. I can write all I want and never lose my status with anyone. I really wanted to just recount the entire story of what all happened that day in front of my friends. But I couldn't do that. So I will recount the entire thing in this journal. Every detail I can remember, it's all written here. Maybe I can someday use this to torment my brother. I'll find some use for it one day. So let me begin._

_I remember the day it all happened like it was yesterday. Mother, Father, Zuko, and I were attending a requested audience with Grandfather. I had no idea or care to know what it was about at the time being. Father asked me to demonstrate what I had been learning recently at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, so I willingly did so, hoping to impress Grandfather and annoy Zuko with my advanced skills for my age. I always was a better firebender than my brother. I quickly demonstrated, and Zuko, being the silly boy he was, challenged my skills, standing up to show his moves. And he failed horribly._

_Grandfather grew tired of Zuko's pathetic routine of leaping and falling, and told the rest of us to get out so that Father could get to the point of the meeting. Mother walked out of the room, expecting us to follow, but not making sure that we obeyed. Taking advantage of her ignorance, I quickly pulled Zuko behind the curtains at the back of the room. He was hesitant and nervous, but he somehow managed to stay in the room for a few minutes._

_We peered through a slit in the curtains to see what this meeting was about. This was the good part. I remember the conversation causing me to think that all my dreams were about to come true._

_"Father, you must have realized as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended. After his son's death, my brother abandoned the siege at Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he will return home? But I am here, Father, and my children are alive." Father spoke with a hint of evil in his voice. I've always loved that about him._

_"Say what it is you want." Grandfather growled impatiently._

_"Father, revoke Iroh's birthright. I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me." At this point, Grandfather became very angry._

_"You dare suggest I betray Iroh, my first born? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son!? I think Iroh has suffered enough. But you? Your punishment has scarcely begun!" Azulon bent the flames in the room into a blazing furnace, and that's when Zuko ran out. I continued to watch, to see what this 'punishment' could be._

_The flames were blazing rapidly, and I could no longer see Grandfather due to the inferno burning between him and Father. Then suddenly appeared as he walked out of the flames towards Father, bending the fire out of his way._

_"Your punishment shall fit your crime. You must know the pain of losing a first born son, by sacrificing your own!" At these words I nearly squealed with excitement, but covered my mouth in fear of being caught. Dad's response was enough to make me swell up with so much pride that I could hardly contain myself._

_"Father, you know as well as I do that my son is not fit to be firelord. With Zuko as firelord, our nation would be doomed to burn in the very flames that we ourselves create." He paused for a moment as my heart was racing, dying to hear what would come next. "If I do this deed you have asked of me, and remove Zuko from my bloodline, will you then reconsider my request?"_

_"Keep to your word, Prince Ozai. See to it that Azula is your only heir, and I will keep to my promise, by revoking Iroh's birthright." I couldn't handle it anymore. Father bowed his head in agreement, and that was when I raced out, heart beating unnaturally fast that Father was going to kill Zuko, and that I was to be the only heir. Honestly, I had a slight pity for Zuko deep down, but I shoved it aside and decided to make the most of the time I had left with my brother in my life. I ran towards his room, preparing to torture his already swirling mind with even more thoughts threats, just for the sake of having fun. I did not stop to think of my actions, though, and my mindless thinking ruined everything._

_My hand is hurting. I'll write more in tomorrow's entry._

Zuko stopped. That was, obviously, the end of that day's entry. He turned the page to see that she had kept her word and continued it on the next day's entry, but he had had enough for the moment. He looked at Mai who had a horrified scowl written upon her face. Zuko closed the book quickly.

"What did you do that for?" questioned Mai, "Keep going!"

Zuko exhaled a depressed sigh. "I guess... It's torture to read this. Remembering that terrible night..." He reopened the book to the same place where he had left off and began reading the next day's article which picked up where the previous had left off.

_Ah, where was I? Oh yes! To torture my brother. I ran down the halls for Zuko's bedroom. I looked inside to see that he was desperately trying to fall asleep. I bluntly opened the door and did my best to frighten him._

_In a voice as creepy as I could manage, I sung a little lullaby to him which could not have been soothing in the least bit, even surprising myself at how horrifying my words were._

_"Dad's going to kill you."_


	3. Chapter 3: Things Gone Wrong

**The Truth Behind Ursa**  
Chapter 3 - Things Gone Wrong

_"Dad's going to kill you. Really, he is." I said in a tone that even I was surprised by._

_"Ha-ha, Azula. Nice try." Zuko mocked, sitting up and trying to brush it off._

_"Fine, don't believe me. But I heard everything. Grandfather said dad's punishment should fit his crime." I began to quote Grandfather in a deep voice, " 'You must know the pain of loosing a firstborn son, by sacrificing your own!' " Zuko was obviously disturbed by this and kept trying to force it out of his mind._

_"Liar!" He shouted._

_"I'm only telling you for your own good." I continued, trying to frighten him more and enjoying myself doing so. I was swinging around his bed, holding onto the columns for support, all of which just added to the creepiness. I sat down on his bed. "I know! Maybe you can find a nice earth kingdom family to adopt you!"_

_"Stop it! You're lying." He knew that I wasn't lying, but he kept trying to push the thought away nonetheless. "Dad would never do that to me."_

_Then came a voice that made my spirit sink into the depths of hell._

_"Your father would never do what to you?" My mother walked in. "What is going on here?"_

_She obviously knew that something was up. I did my best to keep my cool._

_"I dunno." I lied._

_"It's time for a talk." Mother replied, and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me out of the room. As we walked out of the door I heard Zuko mumble something about my name. 'Azula always lies' if I recall correctly. But Mother continued to pull me out of Zuko's room and down the halls._

_"Azula, what is going on?" Mother questioned as soon as we got to her room and she had closed the door. I sat down on the bed._

_"I told you I don't know!" I panicked. I couldn't let Mother know of Father's intentions._

_"I want you to tell me the truth, Azula. I don't want to have to punish you. You're my daughter, and I love you. Don't make me resort to larger measures. Tell me what is going on." At Mother's words I could feel my heart leaping into my throat._

_"What do you mean, 'What is going on?'" I questioned nervously, trying to figure out how much she knew so that I could make up a lie._

_"I know that you were eavesdropping on Firelord Azulon's conversation with your Father. Zuko told me."_

Crud._ I thought. _He ratted me out.

_"And I also heard you telling Zuko that he should move to the Earth Kingdom. What on earth were you talking about?" She sounded very surprised, and strangely uncomfortable at the same time. I took a deep breath, realizing that I couldn't successfully lie any longer. She would know I was lying with the amount of information Zuko told her._

_"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Father is going to kill Zuko." I blurted out as quickly as I could, cringing with one eye closed. Mother gasped loudly, holding her hand up to her mouth and shedding a tear of shock._

_"Father requested to be next in line to be Firelord, and Grandfather said that he would only grant his wish if Zuko wasn't his heir." I stopped._

_I couldn't believe what I had just said. I shouldn't have. Any punishment would have been better than that._

_Mother stared off into space, horror pouring out of her eyes in the form of tears._

_"Come." Mother simply said as she took my arm and lead me out of the room. We were heading down the halls and to... my room. She walked in with me, closed the door, then knelt down to look me in the eye._

_"Listen to me, Azula. You have to obey me." My mother's voice was shaky and she still had a tear on her cheek. "Stay in here until I come to get you. Do you understand? Stay in here." She repeated._

_I nodded, understanding what she meant, but with absolutely no intention of obeying. Mother stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her._

_I had no plans to stay locked away in my room for the rest of the day while Mother was off doing whatever she could. I waited a few minutes so she wouldn't catch me sneaking away, and then slipped out of the door. I ran in the direction of Zuko's room, eager to tell him that Mother now knew, just to prove that I wasn't lying._

_As I ran through the hallways, thoughts of what Mother could be doing rushed into my mind. One after another after another. I had completely screwed everything up this time, and Mother was going to make it far worse, I knew she would._

_As I was nearing Zuko's room, I turned a corner and saw Mother. I quickly stopped dead in my tracks, then jumped back behind the corner which I had just rounded. I waited a minute to make sure she left, and when I peered around the corner to see if she was gone._

_She was. I continued for Zuko's room, but when I finally arrived, two guards were standing by the door. Zuko must have been inside, and Mother must have ordered the guards to protect him. To this day, I still don't know for certain why she was walking the halls near Zuko's room, but my suspicions are that she had just finished explaining the situation to the guards and ordered them to guard Zuko._

Oh no._ I thought. One of the guards was walking towards me. I stood there, paralyzed and with no way of escape since I had already been spotted. The guard continued closer, and once he came within a few feet, he spoke quietly to me, bending down to my level._

_"Princess," he said, "Your mother has ordered for you to stay in your room. Allow me to escort you back?"_

_I inwardly scoffed his last remark and blew my hair out of my eyes. I felt him place a hand on my shoulder and lightly guide me back where I had came. Once we reached my room a few minute later, he walked in with me and spoke once more before leaving._

_"You must stay in here, Princess." He said this and closed the door, and following this I heard the lock turn. I panicked and ran up to the door, banging on it._

_"Hey! Let me out of here! LET ME OUT!" I yelled, continuing to bang on the door. For five minutes I continued trying to escape, but seeing that it was yielding me no results, I stopped and went to ponder the situation on my bed._

_I sat there for hours. It was excruciatingly boring. I had nothing to do as I watched the time go by._

_Eleven._

_Twelve.._

_One..._

_..Two..._

_...Two thirty..._

_And two thirty was the last of my remembrance. Much against my own will, I fell asleep, only to be awakened at seven the next morning by Father himself._

_"Azula," he said, shaking me out of my sleep. I eyed him curiously, wondering why he looked so tired._

_"Father, what's wrong?"_

_"Your mother told me everything that you did. I am very disappointed in you." He paused, contemplating his words. "..._things_... happened last night. Horrible things."_

_"What do you mean?" I questioned, knowing that Mother had done something._

_Father looked down, obviously in emotional pain. "Ursa is no longer with us, and neither is Firelord Azulon."_

_I was rubbing my eyes, but abruptly stopped when I heard this._

_"You mean... Mother's dead?" I questioned, completely shocked. How could she be dead?!_

_"I don't know. We have no knowledge of what happened to her." Father responded, depressed. I later found out that Mother had been banished, and Father was simply lying to me._

_"Well, what happened?" I questioned, being completely confused and hating this uncommon and wretched feeling of confusion. "Did you, ya know... ...rid... Zuko? Are you the next firelord? Am I you--"_

_"Azula." He interrupted me. "I cannot give you all the answers now, but listen to me. Your mother discovered my plans. She stopped them, and Azulon is now dead. I am to be crowned firelord at sunset. And mother is no longer with us. That is all I can tell you right now. But listen to me, Azula." He was speaking very quietly. "If you tell anyone about what happened yesterday and last night, you and I will both be in great danger. So make me this promise."_

_I looked into his eyes and saw the great sincerity of his words. I could tell there was something about him at that moment that was utterly distraught._

_"Promise me that you will never tell anyone, anyone at all of my original plans. If you make this promise to me, I will make this promise to you: Keep to your word, and I will be sure that you are the next firelord after me. Zuko will not be placed on the throne while I am still alive."_

_I jumped with excitement. "I promise, Dad! I promise!"_

_"Good." He stood up and left the room, leaving the door open behind him._

_After breakfast I walked into the room where we had opened our gifts from Uncle the day before. I found Zuko's knife laying on the ground, so just as a pastime I began to sharpen it. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps running behind me. I saw Zuko coming into the room at a great speed, so I slid behind a column, ready to scare him._

_He looked around the room as I slid out from behind the column, leaning on my back against it's side. Zuko turned his head and saw me, somewhat surprised._

_"Where's mom!?" He frantically asked in a state of obvious panic._

_"No one knows." I said, trying once again to creep him out. And it worked. "Oh, and last night, Grampa past away."_

_"Not funny Azula." He said cooly, walking towards me. "You're sick. And I want my knife back, NOW."_

_He reached out to grab if from my hands, but I jumped back for one last comment._

_"Who's going to make me? Mom?" I teased. I held the knife up in the air and let him grab it. I knew this was a way for me to totally bug him out of his mind. He grabbed it from my loose grip a ran out of the room for the courtyards._

_The rest of the day was rather boring. Nothing really happened. Everyone around the palace was quiet, especially Father. He stayed outside the majority of the day, overlooking the turtleduck pond for hours on end until a servant finally came up to him and gave him some sort of information._

_It was time for his coronation._

_After dressing in our ceremonial robes, Zuko and I were escorted to the front of the palace where the coronation service was to begin. A few minutes after being positioned into our spots, the service began._

_A loud gong sounded throughout the palace courtyard. Next, a deep and elderly voice rang through my ears._

_"Azulon. Firelord to our nation for twenty-three years. You were our our fearless leader in the battle of Gar Sai. Our matchless conqueror of the Hu Sin provinces. You were father of Iroh. Father of Ozai. Husband of Ila, now passed. Grandfather of Lu Ten, now passed. Grandfather of Zuko and Azula. We lay you to rest. As was your dying wish, you are now succeeded by your... _second_... son."_

_The sage crowned Father, and I smiled in gratification knowing that this would some day be me._

_"Hail Firelord Ozai!"_

_We all bowed to the new firelord, and my dreams, though not as I imagined, began to come true. Mother was gone. Zuko is no threat. And I was lined up to be the next firelord._


	4. Chapter 4: Swapping Resources

**The Truth Behind Ursa**  
Chapter 4 - Swapping Sources

_I was lined up to be the next firelord, and everything was working out to be more perfect than I could have ever imagined. Since that day, Zuko has been quite a changed person. He's been more touchy, and yet somehow quiet at the same time. A few years after the incident with Mother, Zuko made a horrendous mistake during a war meeting he was attending, and was banished after receiving his scar. This left only me and Father in the royal family, just like I was promised. Zuko is back home now since the Avatar is dead-or so we think. (Go back to the entry I wrote on the day I asked Zuko about the Avatar's fall for more information.)_

_Judging by what was said tonight around the fire, I don't think Zuko will be sticking around much longer. I knew from the beginning that he wouldn't be able to handle what he always wanted: Father's acceptance. But he's turning around a lot faster than I anticipated._

_But now I've gone off on a rant about my current situation. I do not know the whereabouts of Mother. She may be dead, she may be alive. Deep down I do wish that I could see her again, just to hear her comforting voice saying, 'I love you, Azula.' I sometimes have dreams about her return, and they always leave me in a more depressed state than normal. Even sometimes I sink so close to the point of no return that in my gloomy estate so often seems desirable. Like death is calling my name. I so often want her to come home, but I know that she, like Uncle and soon to be Zuko, would turn on us and would certainly be a setback in furthering our Great March of Civilization._

_Still, her peaceful comfort, her loving spirit, her gentle advice; I miss you, mother. I truly do._

_"Little soldier boy, come marching home._

_Brave soldier boy, come marching home."_

_Mother, come home one day._

Zuko came to the end of the entry. The journal still had a few dozen pages left, but this was all that was written about their mother. Zuko closed the book and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Zuko." Mai said as she wrapped her arm around him, pulling him into a hug.

"That answered a few of my questions, but no answers to where she could be." Zuko fell back onto the bed, laying down with his eyes closed. Mai tried her best to think of some way to cheer him up, but she was out of ideas.

"Zuko, is there anything that I can do?"

Zuko just shook his head no to respond. Mai's face fell (more than normal, that is), and she walked out of the room to allow the firelord time to recover. Zuko laid on his bed, head spinning, for quite some time. Then, suddenly, an idea hit him. If his sister had kept a journal, why wouldn't his father have kept one?

No. That's crazy. It was already silly enough to think that Azula would keep a journal... but Ozai? Impossible. ...or is it?

"No," mumbled the figure in the shadows. Zuko stood up and asked again. The sound of clanging metal rang throughout the prison, making words difficult to hear.

"No journal, no diary? Nothing?" he asked.

"I told you, no," Ozai once again mumbled from the grimy darkness of his prison cell. "It was far too risky for me to keep any personal documentations." Ozai then proceeded to mumble something under his breath, but quickly stopped himself as he realized that the clanging in the background had slowed to a halt and Zuko could hear his words perfectly.

Standing up, Zuko smirked and said, "Thank you, father. That's all the information I need for now." Zuko turned and exited. As soon as the door behind him was close he heard Ozai yell in anger with a loud bang on the wall.

Zuko walked through the large courtyard decorated with elaborate dragons and fire nation insignias painted into the marble flooring. His destination he knew, his heart raced in excitement to find more information. He picked up his speed involuntarily, but quickly slowed at seeing a man dressed in a deep crimson robe wandering through the courtyard. When the man spotted on Zuko his eyes slightly widened, followed by him bowing.

"Firelord Zuko, good evening. Is there anything I can help you with?" The elderly man asked.

"No," Zuko quickly replied, "Just coming in search for a document."

"Of course sir. Please, let yourself in." The man said, then stepped aside, holding his hand out in the direction of a circle in the middle of the marbled courtyard. Zuko moved on and stepped into the circle, then bent down, throwing a fistful of fire into a hole in the ground formed in the center of a fire insignia. The ground around him lit up in fire, and the floor swirled open to an spiraling staircase in the ground.

Zuko walked down the staircase, and entered the underground tunnels. Engraved in the wall was an ancient and dead language that was studied all throughout the fire nation as a remembrance of their heritage. It read _Dragon Bone Catacombs_.

Zuko traveled through the tunnels, going into each room he came across, searching for different files. Each room had a small coffin that obviously held the ancient ashes of dragon bones, and above each coffin with a pedestal with one book laying open on it. Each book had written on it, "The Final Testament of Firelord," and then fill in the blank with one of the previous firelords. It was a custom that before any Prince became a Firelord, he must prove his worth by slaying one of the masters. And there was an entire room dedicated to each Firelord, holding the ashes of the dragon's bones which had been slain by that firelord. Around the fourth room he entered he checked the book that was laid out on display. The first page gave him all the information he needed.

**The Final Testament of Firelord Ozai**.

"Mai!" Zuko shouted as he ran into her room, causing her to jump in surprise. "Mai, I found it!"

"Found what?" She replied, intrigued, looking up from the table she had been laying on. Zuko paused for a moment at the site of Mai wrapped only in a towel, seeing as she was in the middle of a massage session. She waved her hand and the masseur bowed, then left the room.

"My father wrote his Final Testament as the Firelord. I have it right here!" Zuko said eagerly. Mai put on a smile and walked over to look at the book, which had a very thin layer of dust on the top. It hadn't been in the dragon bone catacombs for long, but enough to collect a little bit of dust.

"Well what are you waiting for, start reading it!" She urged him on. He walked over to the bed and sat down, but did not open the book seeing that Mai had gone the opposite direction. He began to question what she was doing.

"What are you-"

"I'm listening. Go ahead."

She stepped behind a thin, stand-up dressing wall where Zuko could see only the shadow of her as she took off the towel and began to dress herself. What a difficult decision was it for Zuko's eyes to set their gaze upon: the girl or the book. He was equally anxious to see both, but quickly, Mai walked out dressed in a night gown, sash, and a displeased countenance.

"Go ahead I said!" She half-jokingly threw the order at him. She let out a slight giggle as she walked towards the bed and took a seat next to Zuko. He began to read.

_The last days of Firelord Ozai approach as he prepares for his new title of The Phoenix King, and passes the honor of Firelord down to daughter Azula. This testament is his account of his accomplishments as Firelord: his Dragon Ceremony as prince, his Coronation, his battles, and his passing on of the Crown. Told by Firelord Ozai himself, transcribed by servants of his royal majesty._

**_The Final Testament of Firelord Ozai_**

Zuko flipped forward a few chapters. He had no interest in reading how Ozai had sleighed a dragon. He had probably just stolen the dragon bone ashes form his brother, anyways, when Firelord Azulon revoked his birthright. He reached the second section all about his coronation. He skipped through the first couple of pages, having already been informed through Azula's diary.

"Just skip to the part where he leaves Azulon's chamber." Mai said, anxiously wondering what had happened next.

"I'm trying to find it, just give me a- here it is!" Zuko began.

_"Keep to your word, Prince Ozai. See to it that Azula is your only heir, and I will keep to my promise, by revoking Iroh's birthright." At this, I bowed to my father, and walked out, preparing myself to commit the deed which I, at the time, had full desire to do. Little did I know what coincidental and beneficial events would follow._

_A few hours later, Ursa pulled me aside into a private room. I could tell that something had been going on between the three of my family members after the meeting, but I did not know what specifically._

_"Ozai, we need to talk." Ursa ordered in a low voice. I complied, knowing that there was something going on. And I didn't like it. She closed the curtains to the room and then walked up to me with a somewhat angry countenance._

_"What is this about killing Zuko?"_

_Taken aback, I stared at her blankly, shocked that she knew of the plans which I had spoken of outside her presence only hours before._

_"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied. Why would I expect that to work, though? Suddenly, Ursa pinned me up on the wall, looking me in the eyes with an anger I had only seen from her a very few times before in the past. She was apparently strong enough to lift me up and hold me there. That was when I noticed that she was shaking, and he face was pouring down sweat._

_"Don't you lie to me, Ozai. Azula told me everything that happened in your meeting with Azulon. Let me tell you right now: If you lay one hand on Zuko, I will be sure that the entire nation knows of your evil nature and your horrible deeds. Do not underestimate me."_

_I shoved her back, allowing my feet to touch the floor. We had been in arguments before, but never had we gotten into any physical fights._

_"And who are you, Ursa, to tell the prince of the Fire Nation what to do? If I willed it to be, your entire presence in this land would be outlawed." I snapped at her._

_"Banish me. Kill me. Do whatever you wish to me. But I will not allow anyone to lay a hand on my son as long as it is in my power to do so, whatever the cost, with any means necessary." She glared into my eyes, narrowing her own. And idea then popped into my head. What if through this situation I could get rid of both Zuko and Ursa? I had been noticing over the recent years that Ursa had been changing, much like my brother, Iroh, had been. I knew that she would soon be a hinderance to our Great March of Civilzation, so why should I wait for her to do something that crosses the line? It was the perfect time to somehow rid the Fire Nation of a royal threat to itself._

_I had to think fast. I had to devise a plan that would appear to my father that I killed Zuko, appear to my wife that Zuko was saved, and appear to my people that Ursa had done something unforgivable._

_"Any means necessary..." I repeated after a minute or two in deep consideration._

_"If you promise not to hurt Zuko, I will do everything in my power to get you on the throne. At all costs."_

_I made a slight smirk, which I do not believe she noticed._

_"Do you have any ideas?" I questioned._

_"Yes." She said, surprising me with her answer. I did not think that she had already pondered a way to get me on the throne, but I needed to listen. "As long as we can somehow convince Firelord Azulon that you have killed Zuko, then we can make sure he writes you into his will, revoking Iroh's birthright. Afterwards we..." She paused. "I," She corrected herself, sadly, "could poison Azulon. Then we simply cover up the poison by bribing the coroner and letting him in on the plan, so he can diagnose the autopsy as a natural death. Then you can assume the throne."_

_All I could think was _wow_. It was actually a really good plan! I wouldn't have expected it. Now my mind raced through it to see if there would somehow be a way I could get rid of Ursa through the process too._

_"I think that it might actually work." I said, plotting for myself inside my head. I too, had a plan of my own to rid my life of the burden that is a wife and son._


	5. Chapter 5: Plans of Felony

**Metella**: Yes, I did come up with the idea for the ashes. I actually had no intention of writing anything about the catacombs except that they held the Firelords' Final Testaments, but as I was writing things just kept hitting me and more and more ideas kept flowing. It normally turns out that way. I have a detailed outline of everything that is going to happen in this story and originally aimed for about eleven chapters, but when I write, detail after detail keeps coming to my mind and they branch off into many new descriptions and rabbit-trails which I personally love to read in fan fiction. I love the little details and the things that really give a true setting, and so I try to demonstrate that in my writing. The story will probably end up being about twenty chapters long simply because I always wind up adding so much to the chapters.

**TrueThinker**: I thought about expounding on that just a little, and saying that afterwords the servants were executed (lol, how cruel!), but if you read above you know that I like to fill my writing with details, and I've gotten a couple of reviews outside that have said I give too many details, so I decided to cut that little bit because it was so insignificant.

**Alydrial**: Aw, thank you so much! Everyone's reviews really do give me more inspiration to write. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you all enjoy it.

_(Minor spoilers for Chapter 5 in the following paragraph. If you wish to, read this after.) _This chapter is where the story takes on a new form. Previously, it's been mostly talking, planning, and conspiring. Now it's time to take action. In this chapter it's just the very beginning of the content that will be in the next chapters. Chapter 5 introduces the first sight of blood, the first true act of violence, and a little drop of citrus flavoring, if you know what I mean. Now you can relax (or for some be disappointed), this story's not going to be filled with lemons. This is probably the only time I'll even include anything sexual at all, but due to the mixture of implied sex, blood, and for the weaker in guts, perhaps disturbing scenes, **this story has been raised to RATED T**. _(End minor spoilers.)_

**The Truth Behind Ursa**  
Chapter 5 - Plans of Felony

_"I'll see you tomorrow morning, love," said Ursa as she and I were about to send him off to spend the night with one of his friends. We had to somehow get him away from the palace so that there would be no chance of him being found once our plan was in action. It was about seven in the morning and we had arranged for he sleep over the previous day, so it was the perfect plan. Or so we thought._

_Two nights ago we had devised every detail of our plan from beginning to end, and now it was time for action. Zuko left with a wave to us, Ursa waved back and I simply stared in disgust. I had my own plans for his future, but first we had to complete our first task, and that was getting my name on Azulon's will._

_As soon as he was out of site, Ursa and I exchanged glances, then both bolted for the palace. When we arrived, we went over the plan with each other one final time, then nodded at each other as we went our separate ways. Ursa went outside the palace walls into the city, and I went deeper into the palace to start working on the plans of my own. I had two parties that needed to be briefed on their orders: one for my plan with Ursa, and one for my own plan to get rid of both of them. I continued down the hallways until I came to the room where I had ordered my first group of soldiers to gather. I entered, and there were eight professional firebenders standing in line awaiting my arrival. They bowed to me, and I began to give them their orders._

_"We are committing serious felonies against the Firelord, today." I began. "I understand that you may wish not to continue down this path. I understand. But you do not have a choice. I will give you order and you will obey them to your fullest capability. Any hesitation will earn the reward of death, and I will be more than happy to carry out that deed on each and every one of you if you so much as think about betraying me. Do you all understand?"_

_"Yes, Prince Ozai." They all said in unison._

_"Do you swear that this day you will serve Prince Ozai and Prince Ozai alone, and thereafter serve Firelord Ozai when he sits on the throne?"_

_"Yes, Prince Ozai." They repeated._

_"Good. Now here are your orders. I am going to be attending a meeting in which I will confess to my father that I have committed a shameless deed and that Zuko is no longer heir to the throne. Two of you will be guarding inside the chamber as I say this. Two of you will be outside the chamber guarding. Two of you will be escorting my wife, Ursa, at the proper time. And the other two of you will be on guard patrolling the hallways nearby. When I signal behind my back, I want the guards inside and outside the chamber to switch places and cover it up as just a shift-switch. For the two of you that will be patrolling the hallway, this will be the signal to bring Ursa in. One of you must run a alert the two that are escorting her, who will be hidden down the Inferno Hallway in the fourth room on the right. Bring her back, and allow her in the chamber. then simply man your posts as normal and do not say a word about this. Understood?"_

_"Yes, Prince Ozai." They thirded._

_"Any questions?" I asked, but a short silence fell thereafter._

_"Good. Occupy this room until my wife gets here. When she does she will tell you what to do and when to start. Listen to her like you would me." And with that I took my leave. I had another group to attend and another speech to give. Simply the next door down there was another squad of eight elite firebenders. I had ordered two squads into the rooms, but for different missions. This squad was for my own, personal plans._

_I began with the same type of briefing I had done before. I told them that we were committing crime, but it will be revoked once I am on the throne. After briefing them on the consequences of betrayal I moved on to explaining their task._

_"Your job is simple, and you should have no trouble doing it. You all know my son, Zuko. He is staying at a friend's house for the night, and is sleeping over. Your job is to make sure no such thing happens." A long silence then ensued, interrupted a minute later by one of the soldiers._

_"Do you mean, you want us to... eliminate... your son?" One of the men asked._

_"Eliminate may not be the best word, Soldier. Fancy terminology is not something I appreciate. ... Kill him. And take down _**_anyone_**_ who gets in your way. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Yes... Prince Ozai." A half-committed team answered me._

_"What was that?" I barked at them, noticing the uncertainty in their tones._

_"Yes, Prince Ozai!" They all stiffly spoke, quickly standing up tall._

_"That's what I thought. ... Commit the deed at seven tonight, sharp. Oh. And no firebending when you kill him."_

_"What?" One man spoke out. I turned to him quickly and gave him a horrifying look, at which he realized his mistake and stepped back in line._

_"Do not burn him, at all. And bring back every weapon that is involved in harming him, unclean and bloody, in a bag. Understood?"_

_"Yes, Prince Ozai." They said in unison. I then walked out to check the time. Twelve o'candle. Heh. Azula comes up with the funniest names. It was just about time for the meeting, and so I walked down the halls, peeking in on the room with the squad that was working with Ursa. They were gone, so they must have began the mission already. Perfect._

_Once I arrived at the Firelord's Chamber, I took a deep breath before exchanging a glance with the guards. He nodded to assure me that everything was in place. I smirked and opened the curtain, walking in for my appointment with Father. I bowed when I came close enough to the wall of fire._

_"Why have you called a meeting with me, Prince Ozai. I do not have time for any of this." My father snapped rather quickly._

_"Father, I have come to remind you of your promise that you made." I spoke softly._

_"What is it that you desire, Ozai? You waste far too much of my time already. Many years have a wasted on your silly shenanigans. Speak, now." He was obviously in a bad mood. During his last statement I knew that I couldn't stall for much longer, So I signaled to the guards. A few more minutes of my stalling went on, along with father's anger. The sooner Ursa got here the better. I had to speak soon, though._

_"Father," I began, "Your promise to me shall be kept, for I have committed the deed. My son is no longer among the Fire Natio-" At this point, Ursa burst in. It couldn't have been more perfect timing. She was sobbing what appeared to be uncontrollable tears; her make up was dripping, her outfit had blood splattered on it, her hair was a mess, and over all she just looked completely haggardly._

_"OZAI!" She shouted in a panic, "Ozai, he's gone! They killed him, Ozai! He's gone!" She cried._

_"What are you talking about, Ursa?" I replied._

_"Zuko! These men ambushed us on our walk and stabbed him to death! He dead, Ozai! Our son it dead!" She wailed. I looked up at my father a smirked at seeing his facial expression: horror and shock. He must have believed it. Ursa then stood up from her kneeling position and took her head off the floor. She tugged at my drooping sleeve._

_"Come on, Ozai. We must move!" She struggled. I pulled my arm away from her, causing her emotional face to become even more hurt, albeit an emotional hoax._

_"Hold," i told her. "Go, I will join you quickly." At that she stood up, looking shocked and surprised to see me turn her down, just like we planned. Her expression turned from hurt to angry, and she ran out. A moment later I broke the chamber's silence by addressing my father._

_"I kept the end of my bargain. I expect you to keep yours." I said with a slight bit of hate in my eyes, trying to get the point across that I had done something regrettable, when in reality if this situation were real I would have rejoiced. I began to walk out, but as soon as I was about to open the curtains, Father spoke._

_"You have been true to your word, Prince Ozai. You will be given the birthright this night." I turned and bowed my head so quickly that I thought I might have pulled a muscle. I bowed low to the ground, seeing as I was trying to cover up my uncontrollable smile. I then turned and walked out. Everything was going smoothly and as planned._

_Until I rounded the corner of a hallway and bumped into a figure about two thirds of my height. I knocked whoever it was over, and began to reach down after rubbing my shoulder to help them. "I'm-" I suddenly stopped, my entire body cold yet shaking. I could not believe my eyes._

_"Hi, Dad," My son said cheerfully to me as he reached for my open hand and pulled himself up to the ground._

_"Zuko, what are you doing here?" I questioned, then quickly grabbed his hand and ran towards my bedroom._

_"Yuri's sleepover was canceled. She told me that their house was being inspected by a group of Royal Firebenders without notice." Zuko spoke quickly but curiously as we entered mine and Ursa's bedroom, despite the fact that we almost always slept in separate rooms with the state of our marriage being the way it was. Though the previous two nights, she had come to bed with me, and we slept in the same room. I'm still not sure to this day if it was a thanks or a bribe._

_I closed the curtains to the entrance of the room._

_"Dad, what's going on?" He asked._

_"Stay here and stay out of sight. Do not come out until I tell you. Understand?"_

_He nodded and I walked out. I cursed the whole way down to Ursa's bedroom where she had been sleeping the previous months other than last night and the previous. I burst in to see her removing her makeup. She jumped at might quick arrival, quickly asking what was going on._

_"Zuko's here," I blurted out. "He's in our room right now. I told him to stay there."_

_"What! He was supposed to be at Yuri's!"_

_"I know, but the sleepover got cancelled for," I paused, "some reason. I didn't ask."_

_"Well what are we going to do?" She continued._

_"I told him to stay in our room. As long as we get this done quickly it should work out fine." But everything was not working out fine. Not at all. Zuko was supposed to die. He was supposed to be murdered, it was supposed to look like he was killed from Father's point of view, and it was supposed to look like it he wasn't killed from Ursa's point of view. Things weren't going as smoothly as I had planned. Not at all._

_Then things got worse. A servant asked to enter. We panicked and looked at each other, but didn't have much of a choice if we didn't want to look suspicious._

_"Sir, there's someone here to see you. She says it's important." The servant continued._

_Look at us: sweaty, hot, and messy. Anyone would know that something is up if they saw us like this. How could we cover it up quickly? Then an idea hit me._

_..._

_No no, that's too embarrassing. We can't do that._

_"Sir, I'm coming in with your guest. She says that she must speak with you." The servant said in as humble a manner as he could. It was obvious that he didn't want to barge in, but who thinks they have the right to come into the Firelord's room without permission? Who could this guest be? The servant's feet could be heard walking up to the curtains covering the door. We had to do something, fast._

_I quickly grabbed Ursa's arm and pulled her on top of me, laying on the bed together. I kissed her passionately, and she panicked, not knowing why on earth I suddenly started to do such a thing. She tried to pull away but I only deepened the kiss, and I can assure you that it was indeed shocking to both her and I. We hadn't kissed each other in months, and she had just started sleeping in the same bed as me. Now I'm kissing her with my leg wrapped around her body on the bed in our room? I can understand why she was so shocked and why she tried to pull away. But I only pulled her closer and closer to me the more she resisted._

_"Oh, um..." The servant then spoke, seeing that we were in the middle of something. Mission accomplished. I let go or Ursa and she stood up quickly, taking a huge breath of air from our what seemed an eternity of a kiss. She was about to yell at me when she looked at the servant, and then looked behind and saw an ancient lady, aged probably a hundred and fifteen, with a white bun on her head and giant earlobes._

_Of course it was Li. She's the only person I could ever expect to think they could walk in on me._

_"Li," Ursa bluffed an embarrassed smile, "What a... um, pleasant surprise!"_

_"I do hope I was not interrupting anything." She said with a chuckle. Ursa looked at me with a scared look. What else could go wrong today? My son came back already and is trying to figure out what's going on. My men are investigating a house for a boy who is not there. And Ursa and I were caught looking like we had been doing horrible crimes and had to cover it up by making it look like we were having sex. What else could go wrong now?_

_Certainly everything._


End file.
